when pickin'......

Hootsmon · September 2015

I would urge you to take a look at the demo at 3:30 in post 9 to see what I am rambling on about....

let me try another way...imagine for a mo your pick is parallel to the B string ready for an upstroke...OK? does NOT have to be slanty!!

now rotate your hand/forearm away from the face of the guitar towards your feet and the pick will strike the string form "underneath" the string ( check vid @ 3:30 for demo)

it is my understanding that this is reverse to regular picking technique .....(an upstroke will rotate hand /forearm towards your face rather that away from it)

ElectroDan · September 2015

I think the confusion may be in the way he explains and exaggerates the movement.

If you were to grab a door knob and twist it clockwise - that would be an upstroke motion, anti-clockwise.... a downstroke.

The movement needed is nowhere near that vast though, only a couple of cm.

Hootsmon · September 2015

ElectroDan said:

I think the confusion may be in the way he explains and exaggerates the movement.
If you were to grab a door knob and twist it clockwise - that would be an upstroke motion, anti-clockwise.... a downstroke.
The movement needed is nowhere near that vast though, only a couple of cm.

BINGO! but that is opposite to the way most of us play guitar...yeah?

ElectroDan · September 2015

No. I play like that, and so do a lot of others.

The only other ways of creating a pick motion would be a side to side movement of the hand (from the wrist). Or some kind of elbow or thumb movement.

Hootsmon · September 2015

if I " twist a doorknob" clockwise that's my down stroke.......that's a valid rhythm/solo movement surely?

Hootsmon · September 2015

rotate to the floor (doorknob/clockwise = down stroke)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhHhLCl2_mI

ElectroDan · September 2015

I can't see how it's possible unless you're left handed.

If you grab a door knob with your right hand and turn it clockwise, your thumb and index finger will move up.. hence that is an upstroke.

Hootsmon · September 2015

maybees some other folks will chip in.....

Dan Dan....strum an acoustic guitar with a great big down stroke and it's doorknob/ clockwise/ down stroke

ElectroDan · September 2015

No. It cant be.

Hootsmon · September 2015

from what I can gather most folk are with you on this Dan Dan

no wonder I'm shite

ElectroDan · September 2015

You're not shite. It just hasn't clicked yet.

When I first started I could only play down-strokes with the back of my index fingers nail. When I wore through that I bought some plectrums.

You are luckier in that the information is all there for you and you can ask questions of more experienced players. It seems in the case of Cracking the code, there might have been an overload of advanced technical information, before you were ready for it.

Stick at it and something will happen for you. Try alternate picking on an open string, just keeping a steady tempo and not being distracted by fretting notes. Try Give it a good few minutes and keep the movement you are using quite economical. Your hand really doesn't have to move very far to generate enough of a tone from the string.

Try doing it by moving your hand side to side at the wrist (keeping elbow and forearm rotation to a minimum).

Then try using the rotating action of the forearm (keeping the elbow and wrist movement to a minimum). Even though this picking method involves a rotation of the forearm, the motion is small so it can look similar to the first.

See which feels more natural to you. Don't give up though, everyone hits hurdles.

Hootsmon · September 2015

Dan Dan I've been playin' for years Bro........I probably play in the way you have described and not really noticed........I am guilty though of over analysis and the troy vids just made things worse instead of better...if that makes any sense?

thanks Bro

ElectroDan · September 2015

No problem. Glad to (try to) help.

thomasross20 · September 2015

I've been playing 15 years and still trying to sort out picking. I only really care about alternate picking - sweeping picking etc I can do to an extent but I'm not big on it. I don't just tilt my wrist up and down, I also (mainly) swivel it - it's a natural movement! So I move through many planes when I pick, but it's mostly swivel I think. Like how Van Halen does his alternate picking with his wrist far off the guitar... I look at Guthrie's picking and it seems to have next to no natural swivel. I think it's definitely there but his picking is so precise and the movements so small, you don't see it.

I used to be a big upslanter (lol) but I've changed to downslant for now - I sometimes find it weird not to up-pick and move into the guitar body, instead up-picking and moving away from it. It's just practice. I analyse a bit obsessively at times. Sometimes best to just close your eyes and feel the motion, feel what feels right!

The main technique killer is tension. If you feel any sort of tension then you're probably not doing it right. I used to up-pick with small pushes of my index finger up while the wrist remained almost steady - it felt tense - not the way to pick. For me it's all about that big bony/fleshy bit of your thumb near the base of your hand, that should be forcing the pick up and down. I still sometimes hesitate with an up-pick, thinking I'll hit a wrong string... and sometimes instead of moving the fleshy bit back I almost lift my hand away from the guitar body so I don't come into contact with other strings. Not the way to do it! I try not to do forearm movement - only for moving between strings (reset the hand position so the angle is constant relative to the string each time).

musteatbrain · September 2015

On the subject of wrist rotations and pick slants etc. I've swapped to a completely neutral slant until I need to change strings, at which point I slant it the appropriate way just for that note. I have dumped the idea of thinking about what part of my arm is doing what and when. Instead I think about it differently. For illustration purposes. If I pick a downstroke think of the pick as going north across the string and an up stroke directly south. (In reality it won't be as perpendicular as that) With no pick slant the pick will hit the adjacent string when I change strings. But if I keep my hand in the same position and pick North North East for a downstroke only when I change strings or South South East only when I change strings on an upstroke it gets me clear of the string just enough every time. I hope that makes sense. Does this work for anyone else? Or is it just me?

ElectroDan · September 2015

I suppose as long as you are satisfied with the results and don't find that your picking is impeded, then all is well.

After watching the cracking the code episodes I started analysing what I was doing more. I've increased my use of economy strokes a fair bit, it is a useful addition once it beds in.

I am looking into upward pick slanting at the moment, just to see if it will turn up some new interesting licks for me. I will only ever use it sparsely though I imagine. The downward slanting is just so right for me, it will always account for 99% of my picking.

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when pickin'......

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